The library and its contribution to sustainability at Fachhochschule Dortmund

At the start of the week, we started in general terms and looked at the question of why libraries are fundamentally quite sustainable institutions. In addition to saving resources by sharing media, the social component of sustainability also comes into play. Thanks to libraries, not everyone has to spend money on the media they need - thus ensuring free access to information. In addition, libraries provide learning and workstations as well as PCs and pass on important knowledge to their users in training courses and other events.

Our media stock should be broadly diversified and cover all topics that FH members deal with. However, as the latter is constantly changing and media also become outdated over time, we have to weed out some items from time to time, also to make room for more up-to-date literature. On the second day of the week, we talked about what happens next and answered questions such as: Who decides which media to weed out and based on what criteria? What steps are involved after the decision has been made? And do the discarded media actually just end up in the bin or is there perhaps a more sustainable solution?

Here is a summary of the answers:

The librarians in our cataloging department are responsible for deciding which items to discard. There is one person responsible for each faculty who not only catalogs the newly acquired media for that faculty, but also weeds out old items. This is sometimes necessary because space in the library is limited, because we want our stock to be up to date and because our library does not have an archive function, i.e. it does not have to and does not want to keep everything.

There is a whole range of criteria that our librarians use to decide what to weed out. Here are just the most important ones:

• Lending statistics from recent years: How often has a particular item been borrowed?
• Year of publication: How recent is it?
• Condition of the medium: Is it badly damaged, for example?
• Presence in other libraries: Is it still in stock at other libraries in the region?
• Other items on the subject: How many and what other media do we offer (printed or electronic) on the same subject?

Discarding requires a few steps: First, a list of media to be discarded is drawn up based on the criteria, then these are selected from the shelves. The data records for these media are deleted from the system. Finally, each item is marked as discarded on the outside and inside. This is quite a lot of work, but it's worth it - because we give our discarded media to our users as gifts. We have set up special shelves or trolleys for this purpose at all three locations. Incidentally, we are also currently working on a project with the aim of making it even easier and more appealing to give media as gifts.

On Wednesday, we looked at digitization in libraries. This not only has an impact on our work processes, but in particular on our range of literature and services, which is becoming increasingly digital - and not just since the coronavirus pandemic. This makes studying, teaching and research more flexible and saves resources. Nevertheless, we did not want to simply equate digitalization with sustainability, but also take a critical look at it - because the use of digital services always consumes energy and emits CO².

Carefully weighing up the pros and cons is important to us. This applies, for example, with regard to the coronavirus pandemic: we have always focused on protecting our employees and users from infection - even if this means that we have to resort to digital solutions more often and therefore tend to consume more electricity. On the other hand, digital meetings often save on travel, which in turn reduces CO2 emissions. It is not always possible to measure exactly which solution consumes less energy and is more sustainable overall. This makes it all the more important to be aware that while the use of e-books, for example, saves resources (paper, ink, other materials, etc.) and energy (for the production and transportation of printed books), it also consumes energy in the form of electricity.

The fourth day was all about the many small things that library staff and users can do to contribute to even more sustainability in the library. We looked at what is already going well and where we can do even better. Here are a few examples:

Employees

• When the library closes, all lights and almost all devices are switched off (this does not make sense for all our devices)
• Using toggle switches for devices that would also consume power in standby mode
• Switching on lights in the offices only when necessary
• We only print if there is no other option, and then always on both sides of recycled paper
• Some of our employees travel to work by bike or public transport, and since the start of the pandemic, some have also been working from home on a daily basis, thus saving travel time. Meetings via video conference also contribute to this
• Where possible, handing out jute bags instead of plastic bags
• Waste separation at all locations
• Participation in projects and working groups on sustainability topics

Users

• Self-checkout and return system send receipts by email
• Use of book scanners instead of photocopiers
• Only switch on reading lamps at workstations when necessary
• Use the stairs instead of the elevator at the Emil-Figge-Str. 44 location
• Weigh up when it makes sense to use electronic literature
• Bring your own bags for borrowed media
• Providing special workstations for people with visual impairments (keyword: social sustainability)
• and much more.

A tip for winter 2022/2023 at this point: The heating will also be set to 19 degrees in our learning and working areas. So dress warmly for your stay with us. Of course, you can also bring a hot drink with you in a tightly sealable thermal container.

We ask our users to share their ideas for an even more sustainable library with us. Of course, this is not only possible via Instagram, but also via our contact form(Opens in a new tab) .

The library aims to make small contributions to a sustainable lifestyle not only during Sustainability Week, but also at other times. This is not just about studying, teaching and research, but also about the private lives of our users. That's why we presented some literature tips on sustainability on the last day of the week. We also presented a very special new service for UAS members that we came up with as part of the energy-saving campaign at the UAS. From now on, we will be lending electricity meters to all UAS members who want to identify power guzzlers in their household or simply check how much electricity their coffee machine, laptop and other devices actually consume.

Incidentally, the electricity meters are just the beginning - we are planning to lend out even more technical devices in the future. We have had notebooks for students in our range for a long time, but this is to be expanded to include even more devices that support studying and teaching.